Fresno Fair honors longtime supporters with awards

The Big Fresno Fair will induct three new members to its Hall of Fame to recognize their longtime support of the annual festival during the fair’s opening ceremonies on Oct. 7.

The 2015 Hall of Fame honorees are Electric Motor Shop, the family of Frank and Florence Caglia, and Mike Kludjian. This is the ninth year of the Hall of Fame.

Electric Motor Shop was founded in 1919 by Edmund Elzia; Frank Caglia started working for the company in 1929 and eventually bought the business. His family has carried on the business, now led by his son Dick Caglia, since Frank Caglia’s death in 2007. Frank and Dick Caglia are the only father-and-son pair who each were recognized with the Leon S. Peters Award, the community’s top honor for lifetime service presented by the Fresno Chamber of Commerce.

The fair is honoring the Caglia family for its efforts preserving iconic pieces of Fresno history, including the cupola of the old Fresno County Courthouse and neon signs from defunct businesses that were once popular community landmarks, some of which will be featured in the fair’s New Fresno County Historical Museum. Kludjian, a Fresno contractor, is going into the Hall of Fame because of his longtime service on the Friends of the Fair board as well as his efforts to establish the new museum at the fairgrounds.

The fair also announced its eighth Community Champions awards for service to Fresno County. The recipients are Dewaine and Deborah Breazeale of the Salvation Army for volunteerism; restaurateur George Milutinovich for humanitarianism; Fresno County schools superintendent Jim Yovino and his wife Jennifer for education; and a special award for Fresno Fire Department Capt. Pete Dern, who was seriously injured when he fell through the roof of a burning house earlier this year.

The Community Champions recipients will also be recognized during the Oct. 7 opening ceremonies.

This story was originally published September 25, 2015 at 1:14 PM with the headline "Fresno Fair honors longtime supporters with awards."